Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band

Taj Mahal doesn’t wait for permission. If a sound intrigues him, he sets out to make it. If origins mystify him, he moves to trace them. If rules get in his way, he unapologetically breaks them. To Taj, convention means nothing, but traditions are holy. He has pushed music and culture forward, all while looking lovingly back.
“I just want to be able to make the music that I’m hearing come to me — and that’s what I did,” Taj says. The 82-year-old is home in Berkeley, reflecting on six + decades of music making. “When I say, ‘I did,’ I’m not coming from the ego. The music comes from somewhere. You’re just the conduit it comes through. You’re there to receive the gift.”

Taj is a towering musical figure — a legend who transcended the blues not by leaving them behind, but by revealing their magnificent scope to the world. “The blues is bigger than most people think,” he says. “You could hear Mozart play the blues. It might be more like a lament. It might be more melancholy. But I’m going to tell you: the blues is in there.”

If anyone knows where to find the blues, it’s Taj. A brilliant artist with a musicologist’s mind, he has pursued and elevated the roots of beloved sounds with boundless devotion and skill. Then, as he traced origins to the American South, the Caribbean, Africa, and elsewhere, he created entirely new sounds, over and over again. As a result, he’s not only a god to rock-and-roll icons such as Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, but also a hero to ambitious artists toiling in obscurity who are determined to combine sounds that have heretofore been ostracized from one another. No one is as simultaneously traditional and avant-garde.

Quantifying Taj’s significance is impossible, but people try anyway. A 2022 Grammy win for ‘Get On Board’ for his collaboration with Ry Cooder, then a trip with his Sextet to Leon Russell’s Church Studio in Tulsa, OK to record Swingin’ Live at the Church Studio in Tulsa, yet another Grammy win, brought his Grammy tally to five wins and 16 nominations, and underscored his undiminished relevance more than 50 years after his solo debut. Blues Hall of Fame membership, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association, 2025 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree and other honors punctuate his resumé. He appreciates the accolades, but his motivation lies elsewhere. “It’s not a hunger, not a lust or even a thirst,” Taj says of what drives him. “It’s just more knowledge of self — to realize that almost everything is right here. We’re so used to looking outside of ourselves for things, and it’s right here.”

Taj’s exploration of music began as an exploration of self. He was born in 1942 in Harlem to musical parents — his father was a jazz pianist with Caribbean roots; mother was a gospel-singing schoolteacher from South Carolina — who cultivated an appreciation for both personal history and the arts in their son. “I was raised really conscious of my African roots,” Taj says. “So I was trying to find out: where does what we do here connect to what we left there?” In the early 1950s, his family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts — a microcosmic melting pot for immigrants from across the globe: the Caribbean, the American South, Europe, the Mediterranean, Syria, Lebanon. “Music was everywhere,” he says. “Things were different in those days. There weren’t a lot of places that African Americans had to go out to entertain themselves. So people did a lot of entertaining in their homes. Friday or Saturday night, you’d move the furniture, mop and wax the floor, and set things up so people could pop over and hear all the music.” Musicians and friends from around the world passed through, ate home-cooked feasts, and led neighborhood jam sessions and dance parties in cozy living rooms.
From the beginning, Taj found the blues magnetic, even as most artists around him in the Northeast were exploring other sounds. “I could hear little strains of the blues coming through — you could feel that energy in the music that was being played,” he says. “I could also feel that energy of the blues inside myself.” Piano lessons didn’t stick — “I’d already heard what I wanted to play” – so when a blues guitarist from North Carolina moved in next door, Taj found an early mentor and was off.

For college, Taj attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He graduated after studying agriculture and animal husbandry. “I knew I’d like to connect myself to something on this planet that’s meaningful,” he says. “That’s why I was interested in agriculture and music. Those were the two things that I recognized even as a very young child that people are never going to do without.”

In 1964, Taj packed up and headed west. In Los Angeles, he formed six-piece the Rising Sons with Ry Cooder. The group opened for Otis Redding, the Temptations, and more, and recorded an album, but it wasn’t released until about 30 years later. “I guess that’s when they decided, ‘Whoa. I guess this guy is real,'” Taj says, with a hint of a smirk. He’s referring to record executives — a breed for whom he has little patience. “For me, playing the old music was a refuge from all the stupid stuff that was going on,” he says, pausing for a moment to point out commercialization’s limiting effects on what was both recorded and heard.

In 1967, Taj’s self-titled debut announced the arrival of bold young bluesman. The following year ushered in two milestones: sophomore album The Natch’l Blues dropped, and Taj performed in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, a film featuring performances from the Stones, The Who, Marianne Faithfull, Martha and the Vandellas, and others meant for the BBC but pulled and kept from public eyes until 1996. In 1969, full of music and only just beginning, Taj released Giant Step / De Ole Folks at Home, a massive double album that hinted at Taj’s refusal to be boxed in.

The ’70s were a productive and ambitious recording period for Taj that included the Grammy-nominated soundtrack for the film Sounder. He began experimenting with global fusions and flirtations, signaling to listeners his restless intention to discover both new and old and disregard commercially imposed boundaries. In the ’80s, Taj moved to Hawaii, and fell in love with sounds native to the island as he toured constantly, internationally. His gritty blues began to incorporate Latin, reggae, Caribbean, calypso, cajun, jazz, and more, all layered over a distinctly Afrocentric roots base he’d been raised to rediscover.

For Taj, the ’90s were incredibly prolific. Back-to-back Grammy wins for the Best Contemporary Blues Album recognized two dynamic projects with the Phantom Blues Band: Señor Blues and Shoutin’ in Key. “I noticed that when it came to complicated pieces of blues music, they’d never get played,” Taj says. “It’s one of the reasons we put Señor Blues out — to say, ‘You guys, you know there is more that just the same old [imitates a beat] di da di di di da.’ It’s good when you believe it when you’re playing it. But just to play it as a cliche? That’s real boring. And real tiring.” Collaborations with Hawaiian, African, Indian, and other musicians helped define his decade.

Over the years, Taj had also emerged as a mind-boggling, multifaceted player. In addition to the guitar, he has become proficient on about 20 different instruments — and counting. “There weren’t an awful lot of people still playing these instruments that came from my culture,” Taj explains. “Not that they didn’t before, but nobody was playing them in the time I was. But I wanted to hear them. So I watched people play, got one, sat down, remembered the music that I was listening to, and started picking it out on the mandolin or banjo or 12-string.”

Taj didn’t slow down as he entered the 21st century. Maestro, marking the 40th anniversary of his recording career and featuring a global mix of voices ranging from Angelique Kidjo to Los Lobos to Ziggy Marley to Ben Harper, dropped in 2008. In 2017, his highly anticipated collaboration with Keb’ Mo’ — TajMo — netted Taj his third Grammy. Their partnership continued in 2023-24 when they regrouped to record the follow up TajMo record due out in Spring 2025. 2022’s Grammy for ‘Get on Board’ with Ry Cooder, Taj’s live record from the Church Studio in Tulsa, ‘Savoy’ are amongst a few of the several projects he is either touring behind or currently in the works, as Taj remains excited by fresh young voices trying new things and exhumed treasures that have been buried too long.

As Taj thinks about the dozens and dozens of albums, collaborations, live experiences, and captured sounds, he finds satisfaction in one main idea. “As long as I’m never sitting here, saying to myself, ‘You know? You had an idea 50 years ago, and you didn’t follow through,’ I’m really happy,” he says. “It doesn’t even matter that other people get to hear it. It matters that I get to hear it — that I did it.”

Together and separately, these six men have contributed to Blues and Rock and Roll musical history as session players and sidemen with scores of artists including Taj Mahal, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Little Feat, Jimi Hendrix, John Fogerty, Elton John, Leon Russell, Gregg Allman, Ziggy Marley, The Rolling Stones and many more.

The Phantom Blues Band explores everything from Texas Blues to Memphis Soul with an injection of Reggae for good measure.

Tony Braunagel– Drums and Percussion
Tony started playing in Houston Texas where he grew up. Exposed to the roots music of that era with Blues and R&B, he continued his career with a couple of years in New York, then toured with Johnny Nash.

Later, he moved to London, England for five years, and his start there was as a house drummer for Island Records. He then joined Back Street Crawler with Paul Kossoff, and continued as Crawler after Paul’s demise.
In 1979, Tony moved to Los Angeles and found himself working with Eric Burdon of the Animals and Rickie Lee Jones on the road. This was followed by Bette Midler, Etta James and then Bonnie Raitt through her famous sweep of four awards at the Grammys in 1990.

Going solo again in the early ’90s, he hooked up in the studio with Taj Mahal through John Porter, English producer who also hired him to play on records such as Otis Rush, Keb’ Mo and many others.

The Phantom Blues Band was put together to be Taj’s road band and that’s how they started. They made four records together and toured for many years.

In his career he has also recorded with BB King, played live onstage with him, as well as John Lee Hooker, Charles Brown, Jimmie Reed, Hubert Sumlin, Little Milton, Rufus Thomas, Dr. John, and Eric Clapton.
Toured with Robert Cray and made two albums with his band as well as a Live DVD.

Tony has produced close to 40 albums and various other sessions/artists. Winning a Grammy for producing “Shoutin’ In Key” with Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band, and a Grammy nomination for producing Danielle Nicole in 2019. Several Blues Music Awards were given to artists he produced.

He’s also toured with the Sacred Hearts band since the early ’90s backing the Blues Bros., Dan Akroyd and Jim Belushi, and co-produced an album on them as well in 2003. He spent 8 years with a recurring role as an actor on Jim Belushi’s sitcom, According To Jim.

As a drummer he has been nominated for Drummer of the Year at the Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Awards at least a dozen times, and won that award in 2018. Happy to be making music with his friends/brothers with the Phantom Blues Band, and looking forward to playing the new music live.

Larry Fulcher– Bass Guitar

Larry Fulcher, born in Houston, Texas, is a Grammy Award, W.C. Handy, BBC Blues, and Blues Music Award winning musician and producer. He began his musical career singing in church at the age of five, then on weekends singing along with the jukebox for patrons at the family-owned cafe. At age thirteen, Larry moved to Southern California where he began his recording career at age seventeen, singing and playing organ for songwriters at Los Angeles’ Gold Star Recording Studio. During this period, Larry was able to learn the art of recording by watching the studio’s house band, L.A.’s famed “Wrecking Crew.”

Moving to bass at age nineteen, Larry’s band signed with Leon Russell’s Shelter Records, then to Frank Zappa’s Bizarre Records, leading to recordings with producers Norman Whitfield and Norman Davis for Motown Records, Smokey Robinson, The Crusaders, Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Maria Muldaur, Ruthie Foster, The Ventures, guitarist Cornell Dupree and many others.

In the reggae world, Larry has worked with legends including Ziggy Marley, The Wailers, Andrew Tosh, Sly & Robbie, The Mighty Diamonds, The Soul Syndicate, Big Youth, Daddy U-Roy, Third World, and Eek-A-Mouse.

Larry Fulcher’s co-production of Annika Chambers Kiss My Sass album won her a “Soul Blues Artist of The Year” in the 2019 Blues Music Awards. His production of Evelyn Rubio’s Crossing Borders album earned a nomination in the Latin Music Awards in 2020.

Larry is currently touring/recording with Ruthie Foster….and recording with the Phantom Blues Band.

Joe Sublett– Saxophone

Grammy, Blues Music Award, and W.C. Handy Award winner, Joe Sublett started his musical career playing in bands in Corpus Christi, Texas before moving to Austin where, as part of the 1970s Austin blues scene, he played tenor sax with Paul Ray and The Cobras alongside a twenty-one year old Stevie Ray Vaughan. The Cobras, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played a big part in defining Austin, Texas as the music city it has become in the last several decades.

Johnny Lee Schell– Guitar/Vocals

Johnny Lee got his start in music working with Norman Petty, the famed producer who was responsible for Buddy Holly in Clovis, New Mexico, Johnny Lee left home in Farwell, Texas with his band “Baby” for a life adventure in music.

In the late seventies, Johnny arrived in Los Angeles and began touring with Bonnie Raitt and The Bump Band. He has toured with Taj Mahal, Ron Wood and John Fogerty.

Johnny currently spends his time running Ultra Tone Studios where he has recorded all the Phantom Blues Band CDs and just finished recording and mixing the latest Little Feat project.

Les Lovitt– Trumpet

Les was born in San Francisco, California and began his professional music career in 1964 at the age of ten playing gigs in and around the S.F. Bay Area. After finishing his College education at North Texas State University and touring with the Famed 1:00 Lab Band, Les moved to Los Angeles where has continued to pursue his freelance career since the early 1980s.

Les has toured with – The Eagles, Woody Herman, Glen Campbell, Mel Torme, Brian Setzer, The McGuire Sisters, Taj Mahal, Jack Mack, Debbie Reynolds and Peter Nero to name just a few of the Artists.

Les has Recorded with – Herbie Hancock, No Doubt, Bobby Womack, Gregg Allman, Glenn Frey, Simon Shaheen, Rhiannon Giddens, Bob Belden, Mark Masters, Sheryl Crow, Dwight Yoakam, Eric Burdon, Fantasia, Neil Diamond,
Buddy Greco, Woody Herman, Hoobastank and many more.

Prominent influences include – Fred Berry, Jim Riggs, Dr. Leon Breeden and Trumpet Greats- Edward Haug, Claude Gordon, Miles Davis and Donald Byrd.

Les has been profoundly influenced through his close forty year friendship with the Late Great Jazz Artist – Bob Belden.